 |
| Having Animosity Toward Everyone Reaching Success |
I value the opinions and reviews of friends on social media. They enjoy reading my articles and generally have something to say about how my writing has touched and enriched their lives. I consider no opinion or comment the worst review of all. I take this to mean that I have not touched the passions of my readers or inspired them in some way. But there is always one that replies to every article and is often brutally honest about my work. And he hates it. "This article is trite, poorly put together and an assault upon my senses."
The first bad review I had ever received took me by surprise. My friends quickly admonished him for his comment and a 32-thread debate ensued. I finally thanked him for his honest and slightly painful review and gave the incident little thought. I submitted my next published article a few days earlier. Which I was impressed by the positive comments it received. But there near the bottom was the opinion of my critic. "Not quite so trite this time, but you must have been asleep at the keyboard. I know I was asleep after reading two paragraphs."
I nearly felt my nose bleeding from the impact of his second review. I blinked at my screen in shock. What had I done to deserve such scrutiny? Again, a long online debate began among my readers defending the quality of the article. I was disheartened that I had affected this reader in such a negative way. I felt I had failed as a writer in some manner. I had received harsh and well-deserved criticism from my editors in the past. But my editors simply copy/paste a standard notice of why the work isn't acceptable. I have never had such a harshly cynical review of my work by anyone before. I decided to take a look at the articles in question.
The first thing I noticed was that the articles were now among my highest viewed works. The controversy had given them special attention among my readers. All my other works received a slight bump in views as well. But I was determined to make my next offering one that would impress my new critic. It was quickly accepted by my editors and they even commented on how well they liked it. My fellow contributors also gave it wonderful reviews. I felt confident I had produced a winner for my readers and my new critic. "I felt you trying so hard to be a competent writer I was exhausted myself after reading your latest effort."
I leaned back in my chair and covered my mouth as my jaw dropped. My readers were furious! They demanded I drop the guy from my friends list and ban him from commenting further. At first it seemed my critic simply possessed animosity toward anyone successful at something they loved doing. But after the initial shock, I realized he knew I had put extra effort in the article. This suggested he wasn't simply bashing my work but actually presenting his honest an informed opinion. As I had mentioned, my worst review of all is silence. My critic was very vocal and brutally honest. But he had raised the passions of my readers as well as my viewership. Of this, I could not deny. How could I ban him now that I owed my new success to him?
Among the articles I submitted to our local writer's guild was one my critic especially hated. It received great scrutiny by some of the best writers in my area. After only a few weeks I received an invite to our local community college and presented an award for best new writer. I had to admit, I owed my success to my little outspoken anti-fan.
I posted my next article "Last of Her Kind" and found that my critic is a fellow cat lover. His review was not overwhelmingly approving, but he admitted he was impressed. "I do not typically enjoy crying when I read your less than average work. But this time, you brought me to tears in a good way. Good work!"
Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com
No comments:
Post a Comment